“The event will be replaced by a surprise,” read the announcement from Aperture Science (the fictional company behind the technology in Valve’s smash hit Portal.)

We already knew Portal 2 was on the way, and that the universe is loosely connected to the events in the Half-Life series.

Today, the rumor mill’s churning at 150% capacity with speculation over an image (see right) many assume is a Half-Life tease – there’s even a faint G-Man/Freeman in the darkness if you look hard enough.

This could be a million different things. Maybe it’s just a fan mock-up for the announced “surprise.” Maybe Portal 2 will actually be HL: Ep. 3. Maybe it will be straight up Half-Life 3. I for one would love another Orange Box-like deal with Portal 2, Ep. 3, and whatever else they cook up in their labs.